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#Nonfiction Monday #kidlit: Cool Math for the Hot Summer

July 13, 2020 / / 1 Comment

Need a math book to help keep skills sharp for the summer? Look no further than Cool Math: 50 Fantastic Facts for Kids of All Ages by Tracie Young and Katie Hewett.

Organized as a series of two-page spreads, this small book packs in a king-sized number of tips, games, cool facts, and tricks that will interest even the most math adverse. Examples range from tips for quick multiplication to how to make a magic square. Tucked in are practical refreshers, like how to calculate area and volume.

Although designed for middle school, the title is correct; it could be fun for adults as well. You could read it cover to cover, but Cool Math is so easy to browse. Glance through the table of contents or thumb through the book. Either way, something will catch your attention and before long you’ll grab a pencil to figure out how it works. Plus, the practical tips will make you want to return to it again and again.

Cool Math is a fun, painless way to hone those math skills.  Explore a copy today!

Related:

1. Try Sudoku puzzles.

Sudoku is an extremely popular game and it is easy to find instructions and free puzzles online. The puzzles can teach number and pattern recognition in preschoolers, as well as logic, spatial awareness, and problem solving to older children.

Here’s one example of an instructional video:

 

2. Look for other posts and activities in our math category.

3. Check out our growing list of math books for children at Science Books for Kids.

 

Age Range: 12 – 16 years
Publisher: Pavilion Children’s (March 3, 2020)
ISBN-10: 1843654482
ISBN-13: 978-1843654483

 

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

 


Looking for more children’s nonfiction books? Try the Nonfiction Monday blog.

STEAM Activities for Pi Day + International Day of Mathematics

March 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Now Pi Day March 14 (3.14) has become International Day of Mathematics as well. Let’s celebrate with math books and activities!

Pi is based on the relationship (ratio) between circumference of a circle and its diameter. If you’re a bit rusty in math, the diameter is a straight line segment that passes through the center of a circle and has endpoints on the circle. The circumference is the distance around the outside of the circle.

Ï€ = C/d

It is a fascinating number because it is so useful, but it is also irrational. That means it is an infinite, non-repeating decimal.

Pi Day activities can run the gamut from serious to seriously lighthearted.

You might want to check out

One great way to celebrate Pi Day is to read a book about math. See our growing list of children’s math books for Pi Day and every day at Science Books for Kids and our list of Women Who Count, biographies of women mathematicians (also useful for Women’s History Month).

list-math-books-for-pi-day

Visit our Pi Day Pinterest Board for even more ideas.

#Kidlit: Women In STEM

November 26, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Today we have some more of the fantastic nonfiction children’s books that have been nominated for 2018 Cybils awards.

The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague (Amazing Scientists) by Julia Finley Mosca and illustrated by Daniel Rieley tells the story of a woman who was denied the opportunity to become an engineer and went ahead and became one anyway.

Raye Montague wanted to design ships, but the college she went to wouldn’t allow women into the engineering program. After studying business instead, she landed a job typing for the Navy. Working hard, she learned about computers and devised a program that could design a ship in much less time. Eventually she became an official engineer and took over as head of the department where she had started as a typist.

The rhyming text tells Montague’s life story simply and effectively. Eight pages of back matter fill in many details and reveal Montague’s “can do” philosophy in the face of a multitude of barriers. The back matter also includes a timeline with historical photographs and illustrations.

The Girl With a Mind for Math is a picture book biography of an upbeat and inspiring woman. Pick up a copy for reluctant readers and they might just catch Raye Montague’s infectious spunk.

Age Range: 5 – 10 years
Publisher: The Innovation Press (September 4, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1943147426
ISBN-13: 978-1943147427

Because of the recent popular movie, you might be more familiar with the women featured in Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly and illustrated by Laura Freeman.

Author Margot Lee Shetterly wrote the original bestselling book, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, for adults. In this picture book for children, she gives a brief summary of each woman’s career, interweaving their stories and at the same time emphasizing their similar struggles as human computers for NASA.

“Dorthy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math. Really good.”

In the back Shetterly reveals that that she met many of the women when she was growing up in Hampton, Virginia.

Hidden Figures is a good introduction to these amazing women. It would be a great book to have on hand for both Black History Month and Women’s History Month.

Age Range: 4 – 8 years
Publisher: HarperCollins (January 16, 2018)
ISBN-10: 0062742469
ISBN-13: 978-0062742469

Want to read more? Check our growing list of children’s books about women mathematicians at Science Books for Kids.

Disclosure: These books were provided by our local library. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

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